Minas Gerais (English: , MIN-əs zhə-RYS; Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈminɐz ʒeˈɾajs] ; lit. 'General Mines') is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 census. Located in the Southeast Region of the country, it is bordered by São Paulo in the south and southwest; Mato Grosso do Sul to the west; Goiás and the Federal District to the northwest; Bahia to the north and northeast; Espírito Santo to the east; and Rio de Janeiro to the southeast.
The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte, is a major urban and finance center in Brazil, being the sixth most populous municipality in the country while its metropolitan area ranks as the third largest in Brazil with just over 5.8 million inhabitants, after those of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Minas Gerais' territory is subdivided into 853 municipalities, the largest number among Brazilian states.
The state's terrain is quite rugged and some of Brazil's highest peaks are located in its territory. It is also home to the source of some of Brazil's main rivers, such as the São Francisco, Grande, Paranaíba, Doce and Jequitinhonha rivers, which places it in a strategic position with regard to the country's water resources. It has a tropical climate, which varies from colder and humid in the south to semi-arid in its northern portion. All of these combined factors provide it with a rich fauna and flora distributed in the biomes that cover the state, especially the Cerrado and the threatened Atlantic Forest.
Minas Gerais' territory was inhabited by indigenous peoples when the Portuguese arrived in Brazil. It experienced a large migration wave following the discovery of gold in the late 17th century. The mining of gold brought wealth and development to the then captaincy, providing its economic and cultural development; however, gold soon became scarce, causing the emigration of a large part of the population until a new cycle (that of coffee) once again brought Minas Gerais national prominence and whose end led to the relatively late industrialization process. Minas Gerais currently has the third largest GDP among Brazilian states, with a large part of it still being the product of mining activities. The state also has a notable infrastructure, with a large number of hydroelectric plants and the largest road network in the country.
Due to its natural beauty and historical heritage, Minas Gerais is an important tourist destination. It is known for its heritage of colonial architecture and art in historical cities such as Ouro Preto and Diamantina, São João del-Rei, Mariana, Tiradentes, Congonhas, Sabará and Serro. In the south, its tourist points are hydro-mineral spas, such as the municipalities of Caxambu, Lambari, São Lourenço, Poços de Caldas, São Thomé das Letras, Monte Verde (a district of Camanducaia) and the national parks of Caparaó and Canastra. In the Serra do Cipó, Sete Lagoas, Cordisburgo and Lagoa Santa, the caves and waterfalls are the main attractions. The people of Minas Gerais also have a distinctive culture, marked by traditional religious festivals and typical countryside cuisine, in addition to national importance in contemporary artistic productions and also in the sports scene.
Etymology
Two interpretations are given for the origin of the name Minas Gerais. The first interpretation is that the name simply means "General Mines", referring to a number of mines which were located in several areas of the region.
The second interpretation derives the name from
the former name of the colonial province, "Minas dos Matos Gerais" ("Mines of the General Woods"), referring to two distinct regions encompassed by the state: the region of the mines (Minas), and the "general" region ("Matos Gerais" or "Campos Gerais", roughly meaning "General Fields"). The "general" region included the areas of sertão which were far from the mining areas.
History
Part of the history of the current state of Minas Gerais was determined by the exploration of the great mineral wealth found in its territory. Mining began in the 17th century and to this day remains important to the state's economy.
Prehistory and indigenous peoples
In the mid-19th century, Danish paleontologist Peter Wilhelm Lund discovered, in the Lagoa Santa region, human remains belonging to a population that lived there thousands of years ago, nicknamed the "Lagoa Santa People". The region of Minas Gerais was inhabited by indigenous peoples as long as 11,400 to 12,000 years ago, based on the estimated age of the Luzia woman, the name of the oldest human fossil found in the Americas. Luzia was found in 1974 in excavations in Lapa Vermelha, a cave between the municipalities of Lagoa Santa and Pedro Leopoldo, in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte.
Based on the analysis of Luzia and her people's cranial morphology, it was theorized that they had Australoid features, having belonged to a population that arrived in the Americas before the ancestors of Amerindians. However, with the analysis of the genetic material of the human remains of the Lagoa Santa People, it was found that this prehistoric population had completely Amerindian DNA, therefore ruling out any relationship with Australasian populations and the theory that the peopling of the Americas was due to a wave of individuals with Australoid traits and another of Mongoloid individuals. The indigenous peoples of Minas Gerais, as well as throughout Brazil and South America, are descendants of the groups who migrated there through North America.
In the region of the municipalities of Januária, Montalvânia, Itacarambi and Juvenília, in northern Minas Gerais, archaeological excavations have led to estimates that the initial settlement occurred at Luzia's time. Starting in this period, cultural characteristics emerged, such as the use of stone or bone, the creation of cemeteries and small grain silos, as well as cave paintings. Later, about four thousand years ago, it is speculated that vegetable cultivation occurred, in particular corn, and that two thousand years ago, ceramic products were already being manufactured.
More than a hundred indigenous groups inhabited the current territory of Minas Gerais at the time of the arrival of the Portuguese. In the valleys of the Doce, Jequitinhonha and Mucuri rivers, people generally known as "botocudos" lived, such as the Maxakalis, Maconis, Naquenuques, Aranãs, Krenaks and Pataxós. Northern Minas Gerais was dominated by the Kiriris and Xakriabás. Center, western and southern Minas Gerais were inhabited by the Cataguás, who were the most numerous indigenous group in Minas Gerais' territory in colonial times, so much so that the region was known as "Campos Gerais dos Cataguases" in the time of the bandeirantes. The regions of Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba were inhabited by the Kayapos and Araxás, while the Zona da Mata was populated by the Puri. The region of Minas Gerais close to the border with São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás was occupied by the Bororós.
However, during the first centuries of the colonization of Brazil, the indigenous people of this region were captured by the bandeirantes to be enslaved and the groups that revolted were exterminated, which caused a great reduction in the indigenous population, leaving currently only five groups: the Xakriabás, Krenaks, Maxakalis, Pataxós and Pankararus, the latter coming from Pernambuco's hinterlands.
Colonial era
Initial settlement and gold rush
The first European expedition into Minas Gerais' territory was led by Spaniards Francisco Bruza Espinosa and Juan de Azpilcueta Navarro between 1553 and 1555, which left the coast of Bahia and traveled through northern Minas Gerais. In the following decades, other expeditions known as "entries", coming from the Brazil's northeastern coast, traveled through this same region, such as that of Sebastião Fernandes Tourinho in 1573. From the end of the 16th century, bandeirantes traveled the territory of Minas Gerais in search of gold and precious stones. Many of their expeditions were supported by the Portuguese Crown, among which those of Fernão Dias and his son-in-law Borba Gato, who left the village of São Paulo in 1674, stand out. In the 17th century, the colonization of northern Minas Gerais began, with the settlement of cattle herders, due to the expansion of livestock farming in the northeastern Sertão, and of bandeirantes, in search of precious stones and indigenous people to enslave.
Between 1692 and 1693, the bandeirante Antônio Rodrigues Arzão discovered the first gold deposits in the territory of Minas Gerais. In the following years, bandeirantes from the towns of São Paulo and Taubaté traveled through the Das Velhas region looking for gold. In 1696, Salvador Fernandes Furtado discovered gold on the banks of the Carmo river and built his camp there, which gave rise to the town of Nossa Senhora do Carmo (now Mariana). Two years later, Antônio Dias de Oliveira discovered gold at the foot of the Itacolomi Peak and founded his settlement there, the embryo of Vila Rica (currently Ouro Preto). In 1702, João de Siqueira Afonso discovered precious stones in the Rio das Mortes valley. Initially, gold was extracted from riverbeds, which forced miners to move as the deposits ran out. After some time, exploration also began to be carried out on mountain slopes, which forced the permanent settlement of miners, leading to the emergence of the first settlements.
The news of the discovery of gold soon spread, initiating a gold rush, and in the following decades hundreds of thousands of people eager for wealth, mainly Portuguese (which included New Christians), but also colonial Brazilians from São Paulo, Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro, settled in Minas Gerais. The arrival of large numbers of people in a short time led to epidemics and food shortages. In 1697, the Portuguese used enslaved African labor to start building the Estrada Real, the "royal road", that would connect the ports of cities of Rio de Janeiro and Paraty to the mineral-rich regions of Vila Rica, Serro, and, at the northernmost point, Diamantina.
São Paulo settlers considered themselves owners of the gold taken from the mines, claiming the right due to having discovered and conquered it, and did not want others to take possession of the mines. As a result, in 1707, they came into conflict with the Portuguese and other Brazilian settlers (nicknamed "emboabas", a Tupi term that means "one who offends"), causing the War of the Emboabas, which ended in 1709. The São Paulo settlers were defeated and many of them had to abandon the gold deposits in Minas Gerais, having to look for the metal in what is now the Central-West region of Brazil, finding it years later in Goiás and Mato Grosso.
Prior to 1720, Minas Gerais was part of the captaincy of São Vicente. The imposition of the authority of the Portuguese Crown contributed to the end of the conflict, with the creation of the Captaincy of São Paulo and Minas do Ouro in 1709. In 1711, the first villages were created in Minas Gerais, namely Sabará, Vila Rica and Vila de Nossa Senhora do Carmo. In 1720, the Vila Rica Revolt took place against taxes on gold and, as a result, that same year the Captaincy of Minas Gerais was created after the dismemberment of São Paulo e Minas do Ouro. The first capital of Minas Gerais, and seat of the local see, was the city of Mariana; it was later moved to Vila Rica. In the late 18th century, Vila Rica was the largest city in Brazil and one of the most populous in the Americas.
The Portuguese Crown then began to strictly control the mining of gold, instating a 20% tax of everything that was produced, which became known as "the fifth". The captaincy's population continued to grow, but until then there were only small subsistence agricultural crops, which required the import of products from other regions of the colony. New access ways to the region began to be created and the flow of people and goods increased intensely, thus creating the first large consumer market in Brazil. Villages appeared along these access points, therefore playing a key role in the population of the captaincy. Among these routes, the Caminho Novo stands out, which connected the mining regions to Rio de Janeiro. The intense mix of people associated with wealth from gold and urban life led to the formation of a new, culturally diverse society, with several musicians, artists, sculptors and artisans. Among the cultural movements, the work of Aleijadinho and Master Ataíde stands out, among others, which allowed the flourishing of a local Baroque. Aleijadinho's sculptural and architectural work, as exhibited in the Twelve Prophets and The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Ouro Preto, are prime examples of this period.
In addition to art and architecture, there was an explosion of musical activity in Minas Gerais in the 18th century. Printed copies of European music, as well as accomplished musicians, made the journey to the area, and soon a local school of composition and performance was born and achieved considerable sophistication. Several composers worked in Minas Gerais in the 18th century, mainly in Vila Rica, Sabará, Mariana, and other cities. Some of the names which have survived include José Joaquim Emerico Lobo de Mesquita, Marcos Coelho Neto, Francisco Gomes da Rocha and Ignácio Parreiras Neves; they cultivated a style related to the classical European style, but marked by more a more chordal, homophonic sound, and they usually wrote for mixed groups of voices and instruments.
In the 1720s, in the Jequitinhonha valley region, the discovery of diamonds occurred, although its discoverers did not recognize the value of this precious stone for decades. However, the Portuguese Crown, upon recognizing the region's mineral production, soon established a way of charging taxes in a similar way to the gold tax. The main diamond exploration center was close to where Arraial do Tijuco (today Diamantina) emerged.
At the height of gold mining, enslaved labor was essential for large landowners. In this way, the trade in slaves brought from the African continent to work in the mines intensified. Many slaves tried and managed to escape, which led to the emergence of quilombos throughout Minas Gerais. It is estimated that during the 18th century more than 120 of these communities emerged throughout the captaincy. These settlements were not so far from mining centers, which made it easier for more slaves to escape. There was also a trade in subsistence products between slaves and traders, who took advantage of the lower price offered by the former. In 1753, Rosa Egipcíaca, was enslaved and forced to work as a prostitute in a mine in the region, until she became ill and began to have religious visions. These visions led to her arrest and imprisonment and ultimately interrogation by the Inquisition. She recorded them in the first book to be written by a black woman in Brazil — Sagrada Teologia do Amor Divino das Almas Peregrinas.
Minas Gerais' conspiracy
During the 18th century, mining exploration was strongly controlled by the Portuguese Crown, which imposed heavy taxes on everything extracted (one fifth of all gold would go to the Crown). Several rebellions were attempted by the colonists, always facing strong reaction by the imperial crown. One of the most important was the Vila Rica revolt that ended with the execution of Filipe dos Santos, the revolt's leader, but also with the separation of Minas Gerais from the captaincy São Paulo e Minas de Ouro. The most notable one, however, was the Minas Gerais conspiracy, started in 1789 by a group of middle-class colonists, mostly intellectuals and young officers. They were inspired by the American and French Enlightenment ideals. The conspiracy failed and the rebels were arrested and exiled. The most famous of them, Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (known as Tiradentes), was hanged by order of Queen Maria I of Portugal, becoming a local hero and a national martyr of Brazil. The Minas Gerais flag—a red triangle on a white background, along with the Latin motto "Libertas quæ sera tamen", "freedom albeit late"—is based on the design for the national flag proposed by the "Inconfidentes", as the rebels became known.
In the economic history of Brazil, Minas Gerais plays a pivotal role in shifting the economic axis from the Brazilian northeast (based on sugarcane, that starts declining in the 18th century) to the southeast of the country, which still remains the major economic center. The large amounts of gold found in the region attracted the attention of Portugal back to Brazil, progressively turning Rio de Janeiro into an important port city, from where these would be shipped to Portugal and where the Portuguese crown would eventually move its administration in 1808 after Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Portugal (see Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil).
Due to the economic importance of the state and the particular traits of the local population—famed for its reserved and balanced character—Minas Gerais has also played an important role on national politics. During the 19th century, politicians such as José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva were instrumental in the establishment of the Brazilian Empire under the rule of Pedro I and later his son, Pedro II. After the installation of the First Brazilian Republic, during the early 20th century, Minas Gerais shared the control of the national political scene with São Paulo in what became known as the "coffee with milk politics" (coffee being the major product of São Paulo, and milk representing Minas Gerais' dairy industry, despite the latter also being an important coffee producer).
Minas Gerais was also home to two of the most influential Brazilian politicians of the second half of the 20th century. Juscelino Kubitschek was president from 1956 to 1961, and he was responsible for the construction of Brasília as the new capital of Brazil. Tancredo Neves had an extensive political career that culminated with his election in 1984 to be the first civil president after the 1964 military coup. However, he died after a series of health complications just as he was about to assume the position. Also, Itamar Franco, former president of Brazil, lived there, though he was not born in Minas Gerais.
Geography
Minas Gerais features some of the longest rivers in Brazil, most notably the São Francisco, the Paraná and to a lesser extent, the Doce river. The state also holds many hydroelectric power plants, including Furnas. Some of the highest peaks in Brazil are in the mountain ranges in the southern part of the state, such as the Mantiqueira Mountains and Serra do Cervo, that mark the border between Minas and its neighbors São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The most notable one is the Bandeira peak, the third highest mountain in Brazil at 2,890 m, standing on the border with Espírito Santo state. The state also has huge reserves of iron and sizeable reserves of gold and gemstones, including emerald, topaz and aquamarine mines. Emeralds found in this location are comparable to the best Colombia-origin emeralds, and are most often a bluish-green color.
Each region of the state has a distinct character, geographically and to a certain extent culturally.
The central and eastern area of the state is hilly and rocky, with little vegetation on the mountains. Around Lagoa Santa and Sete Lagoas a typical Karst topography with caves and lakes is found. Some of the mountains are almost entirely iron ore, which led to extensive mining. About 200 kilometres (120 mi) to the east of Belo Horizonte is the second Metropolitan Region of the state, Vale do Aço (Steel Valley), which has iron and steel processing companies along the course of the Doce river and its tributaries. Vale do Aço's largest cities are Ipatinga, Coronel Fabriciano and Timóteo. The city of Governador Valadares is in the limit of this region with the North, while the city of Caratinga makes the transition for the coffee region Zona da Mata in the south.
The south of Minas Gerais is hilly and green, with coffee and milk production. This region is notably colder than the rest of the state, and some locations are subject to temperatures just below the freezing point during the winter. The region is also famed for its mineral-water resorts, including the cities of Poços de Caldas, Lambari, São Lourenço and Caxambu. Many industries are located at Varginha and Pouso Alegre.
The southeast of the state, called Zona da Mata, was the richest region until the mid 20th century, nowadays the biggest city, Juiz de Fora, remains an important industrial, cultural and educational center, being also the fourth largest in Minas Gerais. The day-to-day living in the Zona da Mata however, is better represented by a group of smaller cities like Manhuaçu, Além Paraíba, Viçosa, Leopoldina, Cataguases, Muriaé, Ubá, Astolfo Dutra and several others. Those cities put together form a strong economic presence based mostly on agriculture, textiles and minerals. The city of the principal coffee region in Minas Gerais is São João do Manhuaçu situated in Zona da Mata.
The west of Minas Gerais, also known as "Triângulo Mineiro" (which means "the Minas Triangle", due to the geographic shape of this region), is composed of a particular type of savanna, known as the cerrado. This region was initially occupied by large free-wheeling beef ranches, which are still important for the economy of the region. Over the 1990s, extensive soy and corn farms occupied much of the farming land available. The cerrado is also one of the principal coffee-growing areas of Brazil. The main cities of this region are Uberlândia, Uberaba, Patos de Minas and Araguari.
The north of Minas Gerais is part of the arid sertão of the northeast region, and is thus subject to frequent droughts. Recent irrigation projects use the water from the São Francisco River for agriculture; the river crosses the northern region carrying water from its basin in the central area of the state, which is subject to a regular rainfall pattern. The diamond mines of this region, mainly in Diamantina, attracted miners but are now exhausted, and the remaining population lives in poor conditions, especially in the valley of the Jequitinhonha River. The region is, however, known for its high quality cachaça production. Salinas in particular exports large amounts of this alcoholic beverage. The main cities of this region are Montes Claros, Teófilo Otoni, Pirapora and Janaúba.
Modern geographic division by IBGE (2017)
According to the modern (2017) geographic classification by Brazil's National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which succeeded the division in mesoregions and microregions (1988), the state is now divided in 13 intermediate geographic regions, each one divided in immediate geographic regions (70 total in the whole state):
Intermediate Geographic Region of Belo Horizonte
Intermediate Geographic Region of Patos de Minas
Intermediate Geographic Region of Montes Claros
Intermediate Geographic Region of Teófilo Otoni
Intermediate Geographic Region of Governador Valadares
Intermediate Geographic Region of Ipatinga
Intermediate Geographic Region of Barbacena
Intermediate Geographic Region of Juiz de Fora
Intermediate Geographic Region of Divinópolis
Intermediate Geographic Region of Varginha
Intermediate Geographic Region of Pouso Alegre
Intermediate Geographic Region of Uberaba
Intermediate Geographic Region of Uberlândia
Geology
Starting in the early 1700s along the banks of the Jequitinhonha River, and for the next 150 years, Minas Gerais was the world's major supplier of gem diamonds. According to Svisero et al, "They are usually recovered as loose crystals along rivers in unconsolidated alluvial or glacial sediments, or they are embedded in conglomerates or metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. They are also found in small amounts in a few known kimberlite bodies."
Paleontology
The discovery of the Maxakalisaurus topai (Dinoprata) fossils was a significant paleontological find. The fossil is a genus of titanosaurid dinosaur found 45 kilometers (28 mi) from the city of Prata, in the state of Minas Gerais in 1998. It was closely related to Saltasaurus, a sauropod considered unusual because it had evolved apparently defensive traits, including bony plates on its skin and vertical plates along its spine; such osteoderms have also been found for Maxakalisaurus. The genus name is derived from the tribe of the Maxakali.